The Pittsburgh Steelers roared into the 2016 NFL playoffs with a lot of momentum. However, injuries – specifically that to Le’Veon Bell – ended their season at the hands of the New England Patriots. The Steelers hope to take that next step this year, and they have the weapons to do it on offense with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le’Veon Bell, and wide receiver Antonio Brown. When it comes to those three, the Steelers have some of the top playmakers at their positions in the entire NFL.
When it comes to Antonio Brown, his stats speak for themselves.
He has caught 100 balls for four straight seasons, and if he repeats that total this season, it will be the first time a wide receiver ever caught 100 balls for five consecutive seasons. When asked about the opportunity to sit alone in the record books with that total, Brown downplayed it and explained that all he cares about is the Pittsburgh Steelers winning games – not about his own personal stats.
Antonio Brown’s career
Not only has Antonio Brown caught 100 or more balls in four straight seasons but he has 1,000 yards or more in five of his seven NFL seasons. After a lackluster rookie season where he only caught 16 passes for 167 yards as a sixth-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers, he exploded in his second season with 69 receptions for 1,108 yards.
After a 2012 season that was limited to 13 games, Brown has been unstoppable since then.
Since 2013, Brown has caught 481 passes for 6,315 yards and 43 touchdowns. Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons has said that he sees no reason that he can’t have 2,000 receiving yards this season. On the other hand, Antonio Brown doesn’t even want to talk about those kinds of individual stats.
“You guys worry about the numbers. Our business is winning,” Brown told ESPN. “We get paid by the win around here.”
Comparable receivers
In 2016, Larry Fitzgerald had one more reception than Antonio Brown, and they were two of only three receivers to eclipse the 100-reception mark (Odell Beckham Jr. was the third). Four receivers had more receiving yards than Brown.
In 2015, seven receivers eclipsed 100 receptions, with Brown leading the way in a tie with Julio Jones, who actually had 37 more yards than Antonio. In 2014, Brown was one of four to break 100 receptions and led the way that year in both yards and receptions. In 2013, there were only five players with over 100 receptions and Brown was second to Pierre Garcon in receptions and second to Josh Gordon in yards.
It proves that the Pittsburgh Steelers wideout is consistently one of the best receivers in the league, year in and year out. However, he doesn’t care about that as much as he does winning and earning the respect of his teammates. "As long as I earn the respect of my teammates, the players here, my coaches, that’s all that matters,” Brown said.
